Ange Postecoglou has come out and stated categorically that he won’t rush long-term injury casualty Christopher Jullien back from rehab because of people being ‘anxious’. The big Frenchman has been out since last December, when he collided with a goalpost against Dundee United trying to save a goal.
In hindsight, he should have just cut his losses with the effort that day considering how shambolic our season turned out to be. His near yearly abscence from this team has also exacerbated things on the park for Celtic. Yet again we were without any experienced centre-backs during an arduous Champions League qualifying campaign during the early part of the season. Jullien, like his teammate, James Forrest have left a major hole in the side since their lay-offs on the treatment table.
However, Ange Postecoglou has reasserted his belief that care must be taken when integrating the aerially dominant Jullien back into the starting eleven. He said: “We still need to do some work with Chris, as reported by Football Scotland. I know people are anxious but we are not quite there. This was sort of seen as a likely return date but we have just got to be careful. I want him back but I want him back for good. I don’t want him suffering a setback.”
Ange will know the pitfalls of trying to rush the big defender back into the team without doing his due diligence in relation to his overall health. Whilst the return of Chris would be excellent to hear and see, we don’t want him coming back a smidge early having rushed the end of his rehab. If another set-back were to happen because a lack of foresight it would not reflect well on anyone at Celtic Park – especially not the coaches and medical staff.
Although it has been a frustrating wait we have had to endure watching the former Tolouse man in a foot plaster and doing minor physio, the patience will pay dividends in the end. You only have to look at the reinvigorated James Forrest for inspiration on how taking precaution and perseverance with an injury can reap rewards.
Maybe Jullien will score another winning League Cup Final goal in December?
Christopher Jullien’s long-awaited Celtic injury return postponed by Ange Postecoglouhttps://t.co/nSAUCIpcnq pic.twitter.com/W4JRQxNaeo
— Football Scotland (@Football_Scot) November 21, 2021
Paul Gillespie
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